Title: Heart of Darkness Author: Joseph Conrad Date of Publication: 1899 Literary Period: Modernism Genre: Novella Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting.
On the Thames in London (Initial Setting), then on the Congo - The division between the audience and the storyteller is highlighted. The meaning goes from personal to broader. He also goes to Brussels, Belgium, which Marlow calls the Whited Sepulcher in between, which shows being beautiful on the outside (whited) and having corruption on the inside (sepulcher is a grave which has decay within).
Themes (These statements should be complete sentences and completely developed ideas)
Light and Dark are used in Heart of Darkness to show that not everything is easily discerned, because some light can show evils as well.
Work can be a tool to distract from moral imperatives.
Good and evil are not black and white, because everyone can be either one, and people cannot simply be lumped into groups.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad suggests that cruelty can be caused by greed in any human by writing about how even those with initially noble intentions will resort to cruelty in order to fulfill their desires.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses a physical journey to show that shared experiences can help people learn about each other, allowing a change in perspective towards other cultures.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows that people can betray others for their memory’s sake, even if they would have wanted the truth, because society calls for honoring the deceased, and betrayal can be made in order to conform to society.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses an illuminating incident on the steamboat by writing about the restraint of the natives even though the Europeans threw their hippo meat away. The incident shows how the pilgrims do not understand the culture or needs of those that they are harming for the sake of their own greed.
Plot Summary (Please do not copy and paste. Simply list the high points of the novel) - Consider creating a visual flow chart or graph and posting it here. (Beginning, Middle, End)
Part 1:
The narrator talks about how he is on a boat with Marlow outside a coast with lights in the town.
Marlow begins to tell the story.
Marlow turns to relatives to find a job, and his aunt finds him a job as an ivory delivery steamboat captain in the Congo. In Brussels, he meets the fates and gets the job, meets the eccentric doctor who measures his head. He gets on a boat that travels South along the coast of Africa. He meets an accountant at the outer station that pities him. He has to travel from the outer station to the inner station, and along the way he finds a chain gang and that the boat has been sunk. At the inner station, he lacks rivets although there are many at the outer station. The two men he meets gossip about Kurtz.
Part 2:
The group gets on a boat and talks about Kurtz, they travel up the river, and they find a rotting cabin with a book and firewood. They get attacked and the helmsman is killed, then they reach Kurtz and the owner of the book.
Part 3:
Kurtz dies after Marlow brings him onto the steamboat. The Russian runs away for safety. Marlow tells Kurtz's Intended that his last words were her name, which is a comforting lie.
Memorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.
Whited Sepulcher - Belgium is compared to a grave that is polished on the outside but decaying on the inside, which shows how a wealthy and beautiful country can be full of corruption.
Mephistopheles - The manager's spy at the inner station acts like a devil who is corrupt.
Rivets - Things are never where they need to be due to rampant use of work as simply
This also has been one of the dark places of the Earth -
Exterminate the brutes - Kurtz goes from a moral protector to someone being consumed by greed
The horror! The horror! - Marlow newly appreciates Kurtz because he admits to his wrongdoings and reaches an understanding for all of the atrocities he committed.
The last word he pronounced was - your name - Marlow conforms to society's expectations of honoring the dead and betrays his own morals, lying to the Intended.
Describe the significance of the opening scene.
Expectations of good and evil are not always accurate, and light and dark can be tricky because the lights can have different auras. The revelation made ends up showing the two-faced nature of people later on. The lights on the coast first imply hope, but evil is shown by those same lights when they are not natural. The people who appear to be doing good are later on shown to be the most cruel.
Describe the significance of the closing scene.
Marlow lies to the Intended even though for most of the book he thinks of himself as a keeper of morality. He breaks his own code of honesty in order to conform to society's standards of honoring the dead and only remembering them positively. In order to make the Intended happy, he also betrays Kurtz by lying about what he said.
Describe the author's style and provide examples from the text.
Double layered narrative structure is used to show how nothing can be trusted. Narrator reliability is questioned, which adds to the theme that humans have both good and evil within them. They cannot always be trusted. Conrad also uses lists frequently. There it is before you, smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, "Come and find out" is an example of one of his many lengthy lists.
List importance characters and their significance.
Intended - she is safe and is sheltered from what happens in Africa, so she only thinks the best of the Europeans in Africa, trusting them to do what they promised.
Cannibals and Pilgrims - the cannibals are primal and common (both other and same). They are respected by Marlow, because they do not pretend to be something they are not. Any good or evil they do is up front and not hidden behind a front.
Marlow - he always puts himself above other in his unreliable narration. He says that he is more moral than Kurtz, the pilgrims, the cannibals, and the director. This is important because even he breaks morality by lying at the end.
Kurtz - he shows how humans have potential for both good and evil by going to Africa to cause change, but being consumed by greed for ivory once he gets there, to the point where he puts heads on sticks for power and influence.
Doctor - his diagnosis of people's brains shrinking when they visit Africa shows that the Europeans lack an understanding of the events in Africa, which includes the atrocities committed on natives that they do not fully understand.
List important symbols from the work and their significance
Rivets - things are only there where they are not needed, which helps demonstrate how the usefulness of work is ignored.
Book - knowledge and perception of knowledge can be misleading, which is shown when Marlow initially believes that .
River - both the journey and the water for rebirth. The winding river shows change, mostly in Marlow's perception of the natives and the Europeans.
Work - both redeeming and distracting. People work extra hard to distract themselves from the atrocities they commit.
Fog - the fog shows uncertainty. It distorts and it hides things from Marlow's vision, which shows that his vision is not always reliable.
Author: Joseph Conrad
Date of Publication: 1899
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Novella
Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting.
On the Thames in London (Initial Setting), then on the Congo - The division between the audience and the storyteller is highlighted. The meaning goes from personal to broader. He also goes to Brussels, Belgium, which Marlow calls the Whited Sepulcher in between, which shows being beautiful on the outside (whited) and having corruption on the inside (sepulcher is a grave which has decay within).
Themes (These statements should be complete sentences and completely developed ideas)
Light and Dark are used in Heart of Darkness to show that not everything is easily discerned, because some light can show evils as well.
Work can be a tool to distract from moral imperatives.
Good and evil are not black and white, because everyone can be either one, and people cannot simply be lumped into groups.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad suggests that cruelty can be caused by greed in any human by writing about how even those with initially noble intentions will resort to cruelty in order to fulfill their desires.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses a physical journey to show that shared experiences can help people learn about each other, allowing a change in perspective towards other cultures.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows that people can betray others for their memory’s sake, even if they would have wanted the truth, because society calls for honoring the deceased, and betrayal can be made in order to conform to society.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses an illuminating incident on the steamboat by writing about the restraint of the natives even though the Europeans threw their hippo meat away. The incident shows how the pilgrims do not understand the culture or needs of those that they are harming for the sake of their own greed.
Plot Summary (Please do not copy and paste. Simply list the high points of the novel) - Consider creating a visual flow chart or graph and posting it here. (Beginning, Middle, End)
Part 1:
The narrator talks about how he is on a boat with Marlow outside a coast with lights in the town.
Marlow begins to tell the story.
Marlow turns to relatives to find a job, and his aunt finds him a job as an ivory delivery steamboat captain in the Congo. In Brussels, he meets the fates and gets the job, meets the eccentric doctor who measures his head. He gets on a boat that travels South along the coast of Africa. He meets an accountant at the outer station that pities him. He has to travel from the outer station to the inner station, and along the way he finds a chain gang and that the boat has been sunk. At the inner station, he lacks rivets although there are many at the outer station. The two men he meets gossip about Kurtz.
Part 2:
The group gets on a boat and talks about Kurtz, they travel up the river, and they find a rotting cabin with a book and firewood. They get attacked and the helmsman is killed, then they reach Kurtz and the owner of the book.
Part 3:
Kurtz dies after Marlow brings him onto the steamboat. The Russian runs away for safety. Marlow tells Kurtz's Intended that his last words were her name, which is a comforting lie.
Memorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.
Whited Sepulcher - Belgium is compared to a grave that is polished on the outside but decaying on the inside, which shows how a wealthy and beautiful country can be full of corruption.
Mephistopheles - The manager's spy at the inner station acts like a devil who is corrupt.
Rivets - Things are never where they need to be due to rampant use of work as simply
This also has been one of the dark places of the Earth -
Exterminate the brutes - Kurtz goes from a moral protector to someone being consumed by greed
The horror! The horror! - Marlow newly appreciates Kurtz because he admits to his wrongdoings and reaches an understanding for all of the atrocities he committed.
The last word he pronounced was - your name - Marlow conforms to society's expectations of honoring the dead and betrays his own morals, lying to the Intended.
Describe the significance of the opening scene.
Expectations of good and evil are not always accurate, and light and dark can be tricky because the lights can have different auras. The revelation made ends up showing the two-faced nature of people later on. The lights on the coast first imply hope, but evil is shown by those same lights when they are not natural. The people who appear to be doing good are later on shown to be the most cruel.
Describe the significance of the closing scene.
Marlow lies to the Intended even though for most of the book he thinks of himself as a keeper of morality. He breaks his own code of honesty in order to conform to society's standards of honoring the dead and only remembering them positively. In order to make the Intended happy, he also betrays Kurtz by lying about what he said.
Describe the author's style and provide examples from the text.
Double layered narrative structure is used to show how nothing can be trusted. Narrator reliability is questioned, which adds to the theme that humans have both good and evil within them. They cannot always be trusted. Conrad also uses lists frequently. There it is before you, smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, "Come and find out" is an example of one of his many lengthy lists.
List importance characters and their significance.
Intended - she is safe and is sheltered from what happens in Africa, so she only thinks the best of the Europeans in Africa, trusting them to do what they promised.
Cannibals and Pilgrims - the cannibals are primal and common (both other and same). They are respected by Marlow, because they do not pretend to be something they are not. Any good or evil they do is up front and not hidden behind a front.
Marlow - he always puts himself above other in his unreliable narration. He says that he is more moral than Kurtz, the pilgrims, the cannibals, and the director. This is important because even he breaks morality by lying at the end.
Kurtz - he shows how humans have potential for both good and evil by going to Africa to cause change, but being consumed by greed for ivory once he gets there, to the point where he puts heads on sticks for power and influence.
Doctor - his diagnosis of people's brains shrinking when they visit Africa shows that the Europeans lack an understanding of the events in Africa, which includes the atrocities committed on natives that they do not fully understand.
List important symbols from the work and their significance
Rivets - things are only there where they are not needed, which helps demonstrate how the usefulness of work is ignored.
Book - knowledge and perception of knowledge can be misleading, which is shown when Marlow initially believes that .
River - both the journey and the water for rebirth. The winding river shows change, mostly in Marlow's perception of the natives and the Europeans.
Work - both redeeming and distracting. People work extra hard to distract themselves from the atrocities they commit.
Fog - the fog shows uncertainty. It distorts and it hides things from Marlow's vision, which shows that his vision is not always reliable.